US President Donald Trump has said he is not willing to lower tariffs on China in advance to unlock more substantive negotiations with Beijing on trade.

Trump was speaking at the inauguration of the US ambassador to China, David Perdue.

The US President's rejection comes just a few days before Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Trade Representative meet in Switzerland with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who is in charge of trade affairs with the US.

This is the first official meeting between the two sides since the trade war between the world's two largest economies began.

Trump's statements show the division that exists between the US and China and signal the difficulty facing an agreement that would allow tariffs to be lowered.

According to a Negócios newspaperOn Wednesday, Trump pointed out that before the US was "losing a trillion dollars a year" in trade with China and that "now we're not losing it all", in an apparent reference to the trade deficit with Beijing.

(Photo DR)